Supporting Housing

Kineara’s housing support prevents homelessness by supporting people to sustain tenancies and avoid eviction

Our approach to housing

Evictions are on the rise across our cities, and tenants often find themselves without anywhere to turn.

Being ‘housing insecure’ can be a source of enormous stress in our lives, and often, it is more than one thing that can lead us into a situation of insecurity.

We provide housing support within all programmes we deliver, such is the need of the families we work with. We also offer three services that specialise in supporting households to avoid eviction, manage and resolve rent arrears, and move towards sustainable tenancies through our holistic and tailored support: Rent Support Programme (RSP), Rent Support Programme Plus (RSP+) and Reframe.

The Rent Support Programme works with tenants to resolve rent arrears by exploring how challenges in other areas of life have contributed to arrears.

Over 10 intensive weeks, we tailor a programme to work holistically to address the risk of homelessness, eviction and any other issues which aﬀect their residency; often triggered by a variety of complex and challenging situations. The Rent Support Programme has worked with residents of Poplar Harca, City of London, Southern Housing Group and Origin Housing, and has a 92% success rate in preventing evictions.

This programme is designed to oﬀer housing providers an alternative to the financial and social costs of eviction.

Tenants with multi-complex needs are given intensive one-to-one support, and within 10 weeks over 85% of the residents we work with have begun repaying arrears.

Not only that, our unique services include finding educational, employment and training opportunities; supporting residents’ issues with drugs and alcohol; uncovering and accessing support for mental health and learning disabilities, among many other things.

Kineara’s clients say they feel more supported, less stressed and more confident following our 10–week programme.

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The workers they have time for you’re and explain things. They listen to you and give you direction. Doing this had showed me you can do things. I know now that I can do it.

RSP Objectives

Prevent eviction and homelessness

Support tenants to take steps to overcome barriers to employment or education, improve wellbeing and enable stability

Rebuild relationships and improve communication between tenants and their housing provider

Support vulnerable tenants to understand and manage their finances

Enable residents to make regular rent payments through a sustainable and agreed plan

Our Impact

92%

success rate in stopping evictions

92%

repaid some or all arrears

53%

given mental health support

39%

support with education or employment

Without Sandra and my housing officer, I don't know what I would have done. Their work has helped me, and now I'd like to look into helping others who have been through similar situations.

RSP Plus is an intensive support programme for private sector tenants threatened with evictions, delivered in partnership with local authorities.

RSP Plus is a new project which aims to deliver the kind of support we offered to social housing tenants to vulnerable people in the private sector.

It is designed to work in partnership with local authorities to develop a referral route for landlords in the private sector whose tenants require additional support to avoid rent arrears and potential eviction. Using the successful RSP model that began Kineara’s journey, it is for people with complex needs whose housing challenges require more complex solutions.

In practice, this includes addressing insecure work opportunities, drug and alcohol misuse, mental or physical health needs, whole family support, wellbeing, and mediation.

RSP Plus will be rolled out during 2019 as a pilot to explore how the model could work in the private rented sector landscape.

Having someone who's willing to help and guide you, with everything else you have going on. It was just a comfort knowing that I could call Liz and ask her questions.

Reframe is a tenancy sustainment programme that aims to improve wellbeing and improve housing security.

Reframe is a mid-length intensive programme that is for anyone facing challenges that may be putting their tenancy at risk. It is a holistic programme delivered with housing providers for residents who require intensive support, are usually vulnerable, and whose

tenancy is at risk. We work with households for three to six months, offering key worker-led practical and therapeutic support tailored to the needs of each individual and their household.

Reframe aims to increase wellbeing, confidence and remove barriers to accessing more support from services and the local community, facilitating greater independence for those we work with.